stygian

Adjective (1)

stygian (comparative more stygian, superlative most stygian)

1. (figuratively, literary) Infernal or hellish.

   Synonyms:

   helly, subtartarean, Acherontic, infernal, Hadean, hellish, Plutonic, Plutonian, Tartarean

2. (figuratively, literary) Dark and gloomy.
   • The things which the Stygian darkness hid from my objective eye […]1913 January–May, Edgar Rice Burroughs, “The Gods of Mars”, in The All-Story, New York, N.Y.: Frank A. Munsey Co., →OCLC; republished as The Gods of Mars, Chicago, Ill.: A[lexander] C[aldwell]...

   Synonyms:

   cimmerian, dusky, tenebrous, adumbral, blear, caliginous, crepuscular, dark, darksome, darkling

3. (color theory) Having a luminosity below 0%.

Adjective (2) capitalized: Stygian

UK/ˈstɪd͡ʒiən/

Stygian (comparative more Stygian, superlative most Stygian)

1. (Greek) Of, by or relating to the river Styx in Greek mythology.
   • But then, what though the mystic Three
     Around me ply their merry trade? —
     And Charon soon may carry me
     Across the gloomy Stygian glade?1897, Edwin Arlington Robinson, “Ballade by the Fire”, in Children of the Night
2. Of, by or relating to the Plutonian moon named after Styx.
3. (alternative, figuratively) Alternative form of stygian: dark and gloomy, or infernal and hellish.
   • Within all was black as the tomb. […] Feeling before him upon the floor with the butt of his spear, Tarzan entered the Stygian gloom.1913 June–December, Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Return of Tarzan, New York, N.Y.: A[lexander] C[aldwell] McClurg, published March 1915, →OCLC
   • Or maybe Trump has designs on hell, viewing it as a totally unexploited real-estate opportunity to create some kind of Stygian Riviera.2026 April 17, Marina Hyde, “Is the pope Catholic? JD Vance thinks he has an answer”, in The Guardian, →ISSN

Noun capitalized: Stygian

UK/ˈstɪd͡ʒiən/

Stygian (plural Stygians)

1. An inhabitant of Styx (a moon of Pluto).
   • Stygians – natives of Styx1940, Edmond Hamilton, Calling Captain Future, page 55